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This Crazy Whirlwind of Life

Honestly, those of you with kids in public school, I don’t know how you manage. My son made the basketball team, so I have had to drive him to the school for either practices or games every day. Then I have to go back and pick him up. If there’s a game, I stay and watch. It is exhausting to arrange my schedule around someone else’s — I’m accustomed to setting my own schedule. And this is only for basketball season; I can’t imagine doing it all year long.

This has been going on since mid-November, and I’m beat. The only day they don’t practice/play is Sunday (oh, they also got Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s off). The season is almost over, but there’s no rest for the weary. Now that the high-school aged son is nearly done with basketball, the youngest son has begun to play. I had to quit teaching swimming lessons so that I can transport my basketball players. Now that I think about it, cessation of swimming probably contributed to the return of my shoulder and hip issues.

Even knitting has become painful. I drag my knitting bag along to all the basketball games. All that time I would have wasted, just sitting there waiting for the game to start, has added up to two pair of socks, three hats, and a pair of mittens. It’s nice to have something to show for all that sitting-around time. Unfortunately, for the past few days, my shoulders have hurt even while resting my elbows at my sides — that’s worse than usual.

Wouldn’t it be nice to treat ourselves sometimes? When my animals are sick, I can go to the feed store to buy medicine. Just today I gave a cow two shots s of LA-200. In the spring I give vaccines to our horses. When they’re injured, I can clean them up and apply bandages. We have a stomach tube for calves that won’t eat. Yet for some reason, there is no way for me to say, “Look, I’ve had this problem with my shoulders and hips off-and-on for six years. Can’t I just cut out the middle man and treat it the same way it’s been treated every other time?” No. Instead, I have to phone my doctor’s office, make an appointment, spend two hours on the road for a short visit with the doctor who will do the same exam he always does and recommend the same treatment as usual. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could go online, do the point-and-click thing, and a few days later have a bottle of kenalog show up in my mailbox? No travelling. No time lost. Not that I don’t like my doctor. I do. It’s just so overwhelming to think about going to see him yet again, that it’s easier to just stay home and deal with the pain.

This is why I haven’t been blogging. Life has been even busier than usual, and the bursitis & tendonitis have been waging war. My computer is upstairs, and I’ve been mostly staying downstairs. I’ve even been sleeping in a recliner in the living room since November (instead of climbing the stairs to torture my hips and shoulders by squishing them against a mattress). Something needs to change.

Miscellaneous other stuff, since I haven’t posted in ages:

Last month I finally took dear daughter to see her rheumy in Seattle. The doctor saw why I’d been phoning and pestering her to treat this more aggressively. DD is now on a DMARD instead of just NSAIDs. She’s also getting some pretty intense physical therapy. More about that another time.

Both my college kids came home for Christmas break. It was great to see them and hug their necks. Our son is planning a service-project trip for spring break, and is applying for an internship over the summer, so I guess that means he’s all grown up and on his own, and we’ll see him again next Christmas unless we go to visit him in Texas (which we are considering). Our daughter, however, plans to be home both for spring break and over the summer; we are thrilled. My husband and I are both the oldest child in our families, and really had no idea how hard it is on the younger kids when older siblings grow up and move away.

In other news, totally unrelated to RA (but I could make a case following the RA/food allergy thread), my ducks molted. Molting means that their feathers fall out and they quit laying eggs. Not good, since the people in this house without a Y chromosome do not tolerate chicken eggs. We eat duck eggs. I finally threatened the ducks, and said that if they didn’t produce, they’d go in the soup pot. Two started laying. I should’ve threatened them sooner. 1-2 eggs a day isn’t really enough, so I increased my flock. Unfortunately, the new ducks are all white, which means that they are much easier than brown ducks for owls to see in the dark. It’s been most frustrating, but I started shutting the ducks inside at night and haven’t lost any more heads.

AND… if you just skimmed: IFAA is doing some great chats with blog leaders on the Facebook page. I am signed up, but don’t even have a date scheduled yet — because, seriously, nobody wants to do a chat at midnight, and I feel like I’ve been running from first thing in the morning until the rest of the household is asleep at night. That seems to be the only time I’m not committed to doing stuff. Basketball won’t last forever, though. Meanwhile, please check out the Facebook page and participate in the chats!

It’s really good to hear from you, Socks! I can sure understand that you’re not blogging much these days–I do remember how crazy the schedule can get when a teen in the family is involved in school sports, etc. My daughter was in the debate club for three of her high school years; getting her to meets at schools all over the region–mostly on weekends!–was a challenge. Cool, but a challenge.

You really have your hands full. I get your frustration at traveling so far to see your doc, only to be told to hang in there, no changes to treatment. Glad that your daughter’s doc finally listened, though. My daughter has RA symptoms, too–has had for years now–but so far hasn’t been bothered enough to take action. My hope is that it will continue to stay mostly in the background for her.

Maybe you could spraypaint your white ducks black? ;)

Wishing you the best, Socks, and sending lots of warmth, comfort and calm your way. Do stay in touch. :)

Great to hear from you! I feel your pain with the basketball schedule. My four boys and I have to leave at 6:30 AM every morning to get my oldest to track practice by 7 AM at school. It’s a private school, so in the afternoon I make two different pick-ups since there is track practice after school as well. It wipes me out most days. It’s great to have our kids in sports–but it is also sooooo nice when we don’t have to drive them!

I hope your daughter is doing OK and your hip and shoulder pain quiet down. I love that you are creating while waiting. I’m sorry it has become painful. :(

Thank you for your kind comments, and I apologize for not responding long ago.
Basketball season has ended and baseball season has begun :O Plus one of the boys has been invited to play on a select basketball team, so there will be practices weekly for the next seven years, plus tournaments year-round. My crockpot is getting a good workout.